Pink
by HyperFriend13
Summary: Roxas is going to kindergarten and has no clue what to expect. The trauma of starting school cools over quickly though as he makes new friends. The KH cast and more, chibified and ultra-adorable make their appearance, and lots of fun ensues. Be prepared t


A/N: Hey ya'll! It's me, Hyperfriend, coming to you with 17 pages of pure chibi fanfiction. This story has been sitting around in my head for ages, getting more and more interesting. Finally, my brain exploded and this is the result. I really hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do and if all goes well the next chapter shall be up within a week!

Summary: Roxas is going to kindergarten and has no clue what to expect. The trauma of starting school cools over quickly though as he makes new friends. The KH cast and more, chibified and ultra-adorable make their appearance, and lots of fun ensues. Be prepared to read about fruit-roll-ups, diabolical plans, and gasp a pink crayon!

Dedication: This story is dedicated to a lot of people. Firstly, it is dedicated to Papaya, the sweetest girl in the universe, for giving me all sorts of plot ideas. Thank you so much for sharing your childhood memories with me! Also, this was written for my dear friend Karesu who has inspired me to write fanfiction. We have written loads of junk together, most of it only making sense to us. Well, this story is going to make sense to everyone which makes it even more special! The last dedication (for now) is for all the fanartists who have drawn chibi Axel and Roxas. Dude, they are so cute! Even more reason to write about the little suckers. XD

Disclaimer: The bolded section right below this jabber is not of my creation. I do not own anyone from the Kingdom Hearts series or the Final Fantasy series. Also, this material is subject to change because I say so. Please don't beat me for bad grammar.

Warning: This is the product of 24 hours of sheer boredom. It has a few mentions to BL, but come on. Seriously. They're five years old. What the heck do you expect me to do with them?

**REMEMBER WHEN... **_**  
**_**getting high meant swinging at a playground?**_**  
**_**the worst thing you could get from a boy was cooties?**_**  
**_**when mom was your hero**_**  
**_**and Dad was the boy you were gonna marry?**_**  
**_**when your worst enemies were your **_**sibling**_**s**_**  
**_**and race issues were about who ran fastest?**_**  
**_**when - WAR- was a card game**_**  
**_**and life was **_**simple**_** and care free?**_**  
**_**remember when all you wanted to do**_**  
**_**WAS GROW UP?**

Pink

That's how the day started. Roxas was sitting in the backseat of his mom's car, watching the telephone poles and wires slide in and out of view. It was very early in the morning, and the sun was just rising, so the sky was splattered with dazzling shades of pink, peach, and gold. The sun was a deep red, and the clouds really did have a silver lining. Roxas wasn't particularly enjoying it—he was too sleepy to appreciate a sunrise. He was used to waking up whenever he wanted but now that his mother insisted he go to 'Kindergarten' he could kiss lazy afternoons goodbye.

Roxas was still looking out the window when his mom started to make a big commotion about the school coming into view. He sat up straighter so he could take a better look. At first, all he saw was a sign he couldn't read. There were a bunch of black squiggles on it, and beneath that stood a stick figure of a boy and a girl smiling and holding hands. It looked pretty lame to Roxas—he could draw way better then whoever made that. There was nothing else to see for a few minutes except grass, but then slowly a big building built of orange bricks crept by. It looked pretty impressive. Roxas had never seen a school before, but it looked a lot nicer then the grocery store his mom sometimes took him to. The school had big glass windows and lots of flowers were planted around it. That stuff didn't matter that much though—not in comparison to the playground peeking out from behind. It was even bigger then the playground at the park, and all the equipment looked brand new. The swings, the jungle gym, the teeter-totter, all of them gleamed with the morning light.

Roxas smiled. Maybe Kindergarten wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Goodbye's between Roxas and his mom were very quick. She helped him put on his backpack and then gave him a hug and kiss good-bye. After a quick promise, "I'll be here when school lets out!" and a last wave farewell, his mom was gone and Roxas was left on the sidewalk. He wasn't sure what to do now that he was alone. Well, maybe alone wasn't quite the word. There were plenty of other kids. Lots of them, actually. They were everywhere; a blonde boy was clinging to his mother, a girl with pink hair was showing off a doll to a girl in a white dress, and a dark boy with silver hair was sitting by a bush, scribbling something in frustration on a scrap of paper. Not to mention countless others who were running into and out of the kindergarten place.

_Should I stay out here? Or should I go inside?_ Roxas wondered.

Then quite suddenly, Roxas found himself knocked onto the ground.

"Axel! Watch where you're running!" A lady said sternly. Then turning to help Roxas to his feet, she said warmly, "Look, you ran into this sweet little boy. Are you all right honey?" The lady finished brushing Roxas off and turned to the culprit, her hands on her hips. A red-headed boy looked at Roxas as if to say 'I'm sorry', and then looked guiltily back at his mom.

"It's okay." Roxas said quickly. The woman just sighed and shook her head, giving the two boys a smile.

"If you insist…" she said, and with a laugh she bear hugged the both of them. Roxas looked shocked but the other boy Axel just looked relieved. This meant he wasn't in any big trouble.

"There you go!" Axel's mom said, releasing the boys and then handing Axel a lunch box. Winking, she added, "Just in case snack time isn't all the hype they say it is"

Axel grinned and shouted, "Thanks mom!" and then, to Roxas' surprise, grabbed his hand and started running to Kindergarten. All Roxas could do was be pulled along.

The boys stopped running just inside the entrance hall of the school. They were staring in awe at the high, vaulted ceiling. It was forever tall and made of glistening silver beams. Of course, this meant the inside of the building was cold too. It didn't take long for Roxas to notice. Shivering, he slipped a jacket out of his backpack and wriggled his arms through the sleeves. Axel didn't pay the cold much mind though.

Once Roxas' backpack was on again, he and Axel started down the hall of the school. They wandered around aimlessly amongst other kids, ogling all the features of the school. When the boys came across the bathrooms, they took turns drinking from the fountains by the doors. There were two fountains, one of them higher then the other. Axel immediately tried to drink from the tall one, only to find he couldn't reach. He turned to ask Roxas to help him up, suggesting that if Roxas let him stand on his back he could get a drink, but for some odd reason Roxas didn't feel like it. So in defeat, Axel drank from the fountain he could reach, vowing that some day he'd find a way to drink from the other one. Still, Roxas couldn't help but point out that it was probably that tall because it was for grown-ups. (Axel didn't want to hear about that part. He had covered his ears with his hands until Roxas gave up explaining)

After their little adventure with the fountains, Axel had to start a race. It was from where they stood until the end of the grand hall. The first person to touch the far wall would win. The prize would be one of the snacks from his lunch box, because Roxas didn't have a lunch box and Axel couldn't ask for food that wasn't there. The boys had huddled together over Axel's snacks, deciding what the prize would be for winning. Eventually, they voted for the fruit-roll-up, because it had the tongue tattoos and Roxas hadn't eaten one before. To make the race fair, the boys left their backpacks and Axel's lunch box at the starting line. They would just have to walk back after the race to get them. Otherwise, as Axel had pointed out, the person carrying the lunch box would end up slower no matter what. (Yeah. It had that many snacks in it: p )

"On your mark, get set, … go!" Axel shouted. The boys took off running. They dodged in and out of people, constantly checking where the other racer was. Axel was surprised to find Roxas keeping pace with him. He had thought the race would be an easy win. Even as Axel was thinking that, Roxas was pulling farther ahead. So Axel put his head down and charged towards the finish line with everything he had in him.

The finish line was right there…

"First!" Axel shouted, slapping the wall with his hands and then collapsing in a heap onto the floor. Roxas tagged the wall too and then doubled over to catch his breath. Both boys were sweating and Roxas wished he had taken his jacket off before the race.

"You're pretty fast!" Axel gasped, smiling. Roxas smiled back.

"Yeah, but you won. You get to keep the fruit-roll-up." Axel laughed.

"I thought I was a goner halfway through the race, so you know what? You can have half the fruit-roll-up." Then as an afterthought, he added, "You really never had one before?"

Roxas shook his head. "So, thanks."

Axel stood up and walked over to Roxas. Giving him a pat on the back, he said, "Sure! No problem."

Roxas stood up too and looked down the grand hallway at the colorful dots by the fountain. Boy, his stuff sure did look tiny and far away…

"Next time, lets race to the fountain, and not away from it…" Roxas said. Then with a sigh he started walking back. Axel just laughed at the situation, although silently he agreed with Roxas. He could use another drink of water right about now.

The race and the trek back to their stuff had really worn the boys out. Axel went straight to the water fountains (fish sticks! Why couldn't he reach!?) so to pass the time, Roxas searched through Axel's lunch box for the prize. He found the fruit-roll-up under a bag of Cheetos and next to some Gushers. Man there was a lot of snacks in there!

"You got it?" Axel asked, sitting down next to Roxas.

"Yeah. Here you go." He passed it to Axel and went to get a drink of water. Axel fumbled with the fruit-roll-up for a few seconds and then finally opened up the bag with his teeth. _Grrrr… Dumb wrapping! _he thought. Then he peeled off the see-through cover and folded the snack in half. Then, thinking of something, he checked to see where the good tattoos were. There was a monkey with a banana on one half, a car on the other, a soccer ball in the middle, and a couple of halfway tattoos all around the edges. Roxas plopped down next to Axel and checked the fruit-roll-up eagerly.

"I want the car!" he said. Axel smiled.

"Fine. I get the monkey!" Then Axel tore the fruit-roll-up so that they each got the picture they wanted.

"You do it like this!" He instructed, sticking out his tongue and smashing the monkey on it. He crossed his eyes and Roxas laughed. Then he stuck out his own tongue and copied Axel. When he finished, the boys proudly showed off their tattoos.

"Yours is crooked!" Axel said. Roxas just shrugged and ate his fruit-roll-up.

While the boys ate, Roxas inspected the front of Axel's lunch box. There were a bunch of strange characters on the front, including two mice, a duck, and a dog all wearing clothes and striking poses. As though reading his mind, Axel started to explain.

"That's Mickey Mouse and his girlfriend Minnie. Minnie's kinda dumb though. She doesn't do much. But Donald," he pointed to the duck, "and Goofy," he pointed to the dog, "are cool. They're really funny. They're always being picked on by their mean neighbor Pete. But they always end up making Pete look dumb. You have to watch the show! Sometimes Donald's nephews come over. They're a riot! That's what my mom says anyways. Goofy's my favorite guy. Which one's yours?" Roxas looked carefully at all the characters and then pointed to Goofy. Axel grinned. "High five!"

Roxas did, and then they both hid the fruit-roll-up trash in Axel's lunch box because they couldn't see a trash can. They put their backpacks on again and Axel grabbed his box. They wandered around for a little while longer until they ended up under the dome by the entrance again. Looking out of the doors, Roxas noticed there were a lot less cars outside then before. All the kids who were playing outside were being ushered their way by a grown-up in yellow clothes. Roxas stepped back to where Axel was to let the kids in. Both boys stared as all the kids were herded past them. Then suddenly, they were apart of it too, being shooed by the grown up down the hall. They took a left past the water fountains and walked down a skinny hallway with lots of doors. Finally, at the very back, the hallway opened up into a circle with lots of windows and a table and a few benches. Everyone sat down someplace confused and looked at the grown-up for instructions.

"This is where you go before school starts. You wait here until the bell rings and your teacher comes to get you." The grown-up explained in a scratchy voice. Some kids nodded in response, but they stayed pretty quiet overall. The grown up continued.

"You should have a paper with you that says what room you're in. If you guys could fish it out please?" There was a mad shuffle through backpacks and jacket pockets for the paper. Roxas pulled one out of the front pocket of his backpack and stared at it. There were a bunch of squiggles on it that he couldn't make out. At the top was the same picture of the stick-figure kids that he had seen on the sign on the way to school. He looked at Axel to see if he had found his paper too and if he understood it. Axel was just as puzzled. He flipped his paper over to see if the answer was on the back but it was blank.

"Does everyone have it?" one by one, everybody in the room said yes, except for a little blond boy that Roxas recognized from earlier who had been clinging to his mom. The boy's blue eyes were filled with tears and he kept apologizing.

"I must've lost in on the way here!" he said. The grown up gave the boy a strange look, as though he had no idea what to do with a sobbing child. Finally, he made his way over and gave the boy an awkward hug. The blonde boy sniffled in reply.

"Don't cry! It's not important. Just wait for a second while I sort the other kids out." Then to the rest of the kids, the grown-up said, "At the very bottom of your paper there is a number and a letter. There are two doors in the hallway, right over there." The grown-up pointed at the doors on either side of the hallway they just came down. "The doors have a number and a letter on them. Match them to the one on your paper and you will have found your room. If you get the wrong room, don't worry. We'll do roll call and put you in the right one. Capiche?" Everyone nodded. Then the grown up took out his own paper and started helping the blonde boy.

"Hey, kid! Does your thingy match mine?" It took Roxas a second to realize that Axel still didn't know his name, which made sense because he never told him his name. Roxas looked down at his paper and then looked over at Axel's.

"Yeah, I think they're the same. See how this part is curvy here and yours is curvy there too?" Axel inspected the papers until he was satisfied with the answer.

"Alright then! We're together!" He shouted, and gave Roxas a noogie.

"Hey! My hair! Let go!" He said, trying to wrestle out of Axel's grasp. Axel laughed at his torture.

"Don't worry, your hair's fine! Now let's find our classroom!" Axel made his way over to the doors, the sweets in his lunch box clanking around. He looked from one door to the other and then down at his paper. Finally, he scooted to the second door and turned to Roxas.

"This is it!" He announced. Roxas double checked, just to be on the safe side. Axel was really loud and Roxas didn't think he really knew what he was doing. But the symbol on the door matched the symbol on his paper, so Axel must've been right.

"Okay." Roxas said, and sat down by the door. He and Axel watched as several other kids made their way over to them or the other door. When they got bored of that, they watched the blonde boy talk to the grown-up. Every once in a while, the boy would nod or rub his eye and the man with the scraggly beard would pat him on the head and reassure him that everything was going to be fine.

"What do you think?" Axel asked, watching the sniffling kid. "Do you think he'll get to stay in kindergarten or will he have to go home?"

"I think he'll stay. The grown-up has a paper with him. It's got to have the kid's room on it." Still, Roxas couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. He shouldn't have lost his paper, but the kid seemed nice all the same. Remembering something, Roxas tugged on Axel's pant leg.

"What is it?" Axel asked.

"My name's Roxas." Axel looked at Roxas for a second, then smiled and sat down on the floor next to him.

"My name's Axel!" he said.

Suddenly, the door behind Axel started to open. It gave a small bump on Axel's back, and Axel turned to see what was happening. Through the window at the top of the door Axel could see the face of lady. She looked sorry for hitting Axel and gave a nervous smile. As Axel scooted to Roxas and the door opened, the lady said, "I'm sorry! I didn't know Cid was going to have you all line up here. I thought he'd wait until I opened the door at least. I'll have to scold him later." Then, squatting down so that she was at eye level with Axel, the lady said, "Hey! You can call me Aerith. I'm going to be your teacher this year!" She held out her hand and Axel shook it. Then, his ego fixed and his curiosity getting the better of him, Axel wandered passed his teacher and into the classroom. Aerith didn't seem to mind. She just moved on to greet Roxas and the other kids.

The classroom was ginormous. To Axel's right there was a wall of boxes. To his left there was a big, long table with a bunch of chairs around it that were just the right height for him and the other kids. The chairs were different colors, and Axel threw his stuff into a red chair on the opposite side of the table. From where his stuff was, Axel could see a white board by the door perfectly. He couldn't find any markers though and so he decided to explore the rest of the room instead.

At the end of the table and cubbies there was a short wall and a plastic gate. Axel couldn't see much over the wall but the gate was unlocked and so he pushed passed it. The floor by the cubbies was tiled but at the gate it turned instead to a deep blue rug. Axel kicked off his shoes and left them by the gate, then ran around in his socks through the carpet. It was _soft_. Straight ahead of the gate was a big, square, colorful rug with a bunch of symbols on it that Axel couldn't understand. The second scribble near the front matched the scribble on the door though. Axel had to wonder at its significance, but not for long. There was another white board ahead of him, and this one did have markers.

Axel ran over and picked one up. He popped the cap off and threw it to the floor. Then he busied himself with drawing a very green who-knows-what.

When Roxas got past his smiling teacher, he gazed around in awe. This classroom wasn't anything like he had thought it would be. It looked like _fun_. He dumped his backpack in a chair by Axel's stuff and left his shoes next to the gate. (Although he took the time to make his pair neat!) He strolled past the gate and saw Axel doodling. Before heading over, he wanted to peak around the corner of the wall at the other end. What he saw was the other 2/3rds of the classroom and it was huge. There was so much space! There was a tiled section on the far side with easels, and the entire left wall was made of shelves. There were baskets upon baskets of all different sizes on the shelves. Roxas ran to the closest one and tried to pull a big basket out. Roxas could easily have fit inside of it with another five kids. It was that big! Despite its size, the basket was very easy to pull out. It was filled with colorful bricks, all red and green and blue. He picked one up. It was very long, but very light. It would probably be smashed if he jumped on it…

"Hey Roxas! There you are! I've been looking all over for you. I drew a picture of me on the board. You wanna see?" Roxas turned to look at Axel, and then quickly put the brick away. He raced Axel over to the board where other kids were drawing too. Axel pushed his way passed some kids and stood proudly before his doodle. Roxas stared at it and smiled.

"That's awesome! Let me try." Axel handed him a marker and together they drew until their teacher ushered the last kid into their classroom.

"Alright everyone! Please take a seat on the rug with numbers on it!" Axel and Roxas hurriedly capped their markers, then jumped into the mob of kids searching for a spot on the floor.

"It doesn't matter where you sit because as soon as I start roll-call you guys will have to move to a different number!" Aerith tried to explain. That didn't stop everyone from trying to sit by their friend anyways.

"Okay, is everyone settled? Let's get started! Xemnas, you can go ahead and sit on the number one, right here…" A boy with silver hair crawled over to the one and sat down cross-legged. In the end, everyone had to move, just like the teacher had told them. Axel got number eight. He had to sit next to a blue-haired kid called Saix, who got number seven. A kid called Ienzo was on Saix' other side. Roxas was away from everything at number thirteen. He was on the corner of the rug next to a girl called Namine who got number fourteen. Namine's friend was a pink-haired girl called Kairi who had the luck to sit next to Xemnas. Somebody was missing from the number ahead of him. Someone called Demyx was supposed to be on number nine, but wasn't. A bunch of other kids were called, like Tidus and Wakka and Rikku and Yuffie. In the end, there were 15 of them, with two blank spots on 9 and 16.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the yellow-jacket man could be heard stomping across the tile. The soft padding of the lost boy's feet followed, and within seconds the two of them had made it to Aerith.

"Hello Cid" the teacher said, smiling.

"Hey! Lookie what I got for you! Everyone, this is Demyx, and he's gonna be in your class from here on out. Got it?" At the mention of his name, Demyx blushed. Aerith pointed toward the spot on nine and Demyx shuffled over, his cheeks still red.

So much for the missing kid.

"Pssst! Roxas!" Axel was squirming in his seat, trying to whisper but failing miserably. Roxas looked across the rows to Axel.

"What?" He asked quietly, not sure if he was allowed to talk.

"You were right! That kid didn't have to go home!" Now Demyx was squirming in his seat, embarrassed by what Axel had said. Namine noticed and tried to comfort him.

"It's okay! You're here now. Don't mind that loudmouth." Demyx smiled contently while Axel scowled at Namine's retort.

"Okay. It's just, I was scared too. I thought I wouldn't be allowed to stay…"

Up until now, Aerith had been talking to Cid about clouds or something but since Cid was leaving, Aerith was paying attention to the class again.

"Settle down everyone!" Aerith said gently. "The number you are sitting on will be your number for the rest of the year. When we come to this rug for any reason, you sit on your number, unless we're coming here for story time. When we line up to go places, like the library or gym or to another classroom, you have to get in the order of your numbers. Also, your number is on your cubby hole, so make sure you remember it! Now, let's go check out the cubbies!"

All the kids had to practice lining up. People kept getting out of line to try and stand next to their friends but Aerith had a good memory. She already knew who had what number and where they belonged. After prodding Axel back in position and calming Wakka down, the line was ready to move. Then Aerith led everyone through the gate and right to… the wall made of boxes.

"_That's _a cubby?" Kairi cried. "That's just a box!"

"Yeah!" other kids shouted in agreement.

"I know it's not fancy, but this is where you keep your things. That way you don't have to carry all your belongings with you. Yes Axel?" Axel had been bouncing on the balls of his feet, waving his hand through the air.

"Ms. Aerith? My stuffs on the chair over there. Can I go get it?" Aerith nodded, and Axel scampered off. Roxas watched for a second and then raised his hand too.

"You can all go get your things." Aerith said, and Roxas ran off as well. In no time, kids were everywhere. It turns out that almost everybody had put their stuff in a chair and kicked off their shoes as Axel had done. Two kids got in a fight because their backpacks looked the same, and Kairi was running around trying to find her missing shoe. Aerith had to help people find their cubby holes because some kids like Saix forgot their numbers already. Other kids, like Xemnas, refused to do what they were supposed to and just shoved their backpacks into the first cubby they saw.

"Ms. Aerith, can I hold onto my doll?" Kairi asked, still missing a shoe.

"Of course! But don't lose it, alright?" Kairi nodded and continued her search under the table with her doll in one hand.

"As soon as you are done putting away your belongings, please sit in a chair." Aerith told everyone. Axel and Roxas pulled out a chair and sat. Tidus made to sit in a chair across from them, but Wakka pulled it out from under him. Tidus looked dazed for a second, then jumped up and chased Wakka around the room. Meanwhile, Kairi had found her shoe. Someone had tried to throw it over the wall but it had gotten stuck instead at the top. She was pulling on the laces, trying to get it down. It did, landing with a thump on her head and then the floor. Kairi, surprised, started crying. Namine came over and patted her on the head which didn't help. Then Aerith came over and helped her up, saying that she had a very pretty shoe, and where did she get it? Kairi stopped crying and started to explain that her mom got it for her birthday, and that the stars on the sides weren't stars but paupu fruits and that's why they were her favorite pair in the whole world except for the ones with the pink kitty paws on them. From that, Namine and Kairi talked about shoes and clothes and pink and all sorts of other things while wandering over to some chairs.

Once all the kids had settled down and found a chair to sit in, Aerith walked over with a grey bucket filled with crayons. Then she handed out paper to every kid, leaving lots of extras in the middle of the table (just in case!) Kairi, who had sat down next to Roxas, reached over for a crayon from the bucket.

"Hey! You could at least ask me to pass one!" Roxas whined, not wanting Kairi to lean over him all day. Kairi just gave him a dirty look.

"Kairi, Roxas is right." Aerith said gently. "Today we are drawing a place, any place you can think of. When you're done with your picture, you will each take turns presenting it and telling us about it. Be creative and use lots of colors! But don't forget to share, and ask 'please my I have that crayon' when you want one somebody else is using. Go ahead and start."

Roxas tried to think of what to draw. Kairi already knew what she wanted and wasted no time in grabbing a handful of bright crayons. Axel was squiggling with a fire-truck red, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on his masterpiece. Roxas tried to think of something impressive…

Then Roxas remembered his first glimpse at the school building, and how colorful the sky was, and how bright the school was, and how happy he was now that he was inside. He knew; _that _was what he wanted to draw. So Roxas searched in the bucket for an orange crayon, standing on his chair to see in. Then he fished out a gold colored crayon which had lots of sparkles in it. _Perfect_. He thought. Then he looked in the bucket for a pink crayon. He shifted all sorts of crayons out of the way. He pulled out red ones, and purple ones, and one that said Magenta on it which was a pretty cool shade, but he couldn't find a pink crayon. Roxas looked at Axel who was having a blast scribbling nonsense onto his sheet. If only he had a pink crayon, he could start…

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Roxas saw it; a flash of pink!

Kairi had a pink crayon!

"Uh, Kairi, pretty please, can I use your pink crayon when you're done?"

"I dunno Roxas. You were mean earlier."

"Please Kairi? I need it to start my picture!"

"I don't think so. Besides, pink is a _girl _color."

"Nuh uh! Look, you can use my sparkly gold crayon! Just let me have your pink one!"

"Well…"

"What's going on Roxas?" Axel asked.

"I wanna use the pink crayon, but Kairi won't let me" Roxas said, making a pitiful face.

"What do you want the pink crayon for? Use red. That's kinda like pink, except not. Besides, pink is a sissy color." Axel tried to persuade Roxas.

"No, it's a girl color. Just 'cause we're girls doesn't mean we're sissies!" Kairi said hotly.

"Does too" Axel teased

"Does not! Right Namine?" Kairi said to her neighbor.

"That's right." Namine replied, having been dragged into the conversation.

"Guys! Does this mean I can borrow the pink crayon?" Roxas asked in the middle of all the bickering.

"But we already told you, it's a sissy—" "girly" "_girl_y—color! You can't use pink!" Axel argued.

"I think Roxas should be allowed to use it." Namine said, trying to get the shouting to stop.

"No way! Roxas can't use the pink unless he's a girl!" Kairi said.

"Fine! I'll be a girl. Now please let me have the pink crayon!" Roxas said in frustration.

"Pinky swear?" Kairi asked, holding out her hand.

"Wait! Objection!" Axel shouted.

"What's that mean?" Kairi asked.

"It means I have something to say." Axel said smartly, clearing his throat. "My mom says grown-ups say it when they're fighting."

"Oh. Well then, what do you have to say Axel?" Kairi asked. Axel took a deep breath.

"I was _going_ to say that Roxas can't be a girl."

"Well why not?"

"I was getting to that part. Anyways, as I was saying, Roxas can't be a girl. And the reason why is because one, he doesn't have any dresses, two, he doesn't have any dolls, and three, guys can't have kids."

"I have a doll with me. Here Roxas, you can have it!" Kairi said, handing it over. Roxas looked at the doll. It had a lot of gold hair. But he wanted a pink crayon, not a doll…

"I have a dress Roxas can have" Namine said, wanting to be of use. "It's blue. I can bring it tomorrow." What was Roxas going to do with a dress? He wanted a pink crayon.

"Okay, but Roxas still can't have kids. He's a boy!" Axel said, pouting. He was not going to let his best friend turn into a sissy!

"I have a cousin who was adopted. Roxas could adopt a kid!" Kairi said.

"That's a great idea!" Namine praised. Roxas tried to protest. He was too young to be worrying about his kids! All he wanted was a pink crayon.

"Doll, dress, and kids! Roxas can be a girl now!" Kairi said with glee.

"So now I can use the pink crayon, right?" Roxas asked.

"Right! But from now on, you're a girl!"

"Double objection! I still say Roxas can't be a girl!"

"Now why?" Namine asked.

"Because! Who's he supposed to kiss? A girl can't kiss a girl!"

"Well, Roxas will just have to kiss a boy! Unless…" she added. "you don't want to use the pink crayon?"

"I do! I need the pink crayon to draw my picture."

"Then it's a deal! By taking up this crayon," Kairi said, holding it out for Roxas. "you are agreeing to be forever a girl. Do you accept?"

"Yes." Roxas said, grabbing the crayon and starting on his drawing. Axel shook his head. _Boy, this sure is going to make field trips hard _he thought.

Well, talk had spread throughout the table fast enough. It wasn't every day a boy decides to stop being a boy, especially over a dumb crayon. None the less, everyone held their breath as Roxas stood up to share his picture. It had an orange building and green grass and 'really cool clouds' as Demyx put it.

"This… is a picture of school. I saw it on the way here. See? There's my mom's car and that's me." Roxas pointed to a happy face in the back window of a blue car. "I'm really excited because it's my first day in kindergarten." Roxas looked over the sea of students. "That's it."

"Good job Roxas!" Aerith said, clapping and motioning for Roxas to sit back down. Reluctantly, other students clapped too until Wakka, who had been brought up to believe in the Faith, stood up. The room got really quiet, and then;

"Roxas! You a boy or a girl now?" Aerith giggled nervously at the question but to everyone else this was no joke. The kids looked expectantly at Roxas, begging for an answer with their eyes. Roxas looked around. Axel seemed especially nervous. Kairi on the other hand looked serious. Roxas thought about his answer. Well, his mom did say he should keep his promises…

"I'm a girl." Roxas said, holding his head high.

Kairi smiled in triumph and exchanged a high five with Namine under the table. Roxas didn't mind though, even when his teacher started blushing. The funny looks he got weren't a big problem either. They all vanished after he retold the crayon story.

"It makes sense." Xemnas said, nodding wisely.

"I still think it's a load of bologna!" Wakka muttered. "What do we do if all the guys want to use pink? We can't all be girls!"

"Then you just have to use other colors besides pink." Kairi pointed out.

"Besides, you don't have any dolls or dresses." Namine reminded.

"Well then, Roxas ain't a girl!" Wakka said.

"But Wakka," Tidus piped up. "Roxas does have a doll!"

"Ja, so? Where's his dress? I don't see any dress!"

"Namine's bringing it tomorrow." Roxas said. Namine nodded.

"Exactly! But it's not his yet, so he's not a girl!" a murmur of agreement rippled through the classroom. Roxas looked at his teacher to see what she thought.

"Don't mind me." Aerith said, giving a reassuring smile. "I'm a teacher but this is amongst you kids." _You'll understand when you're older…_she thought.

Then Xemnas stood up dramatically, beating his pencil on the table.

"Order in the court!" he shouted. The murmuring quieted down as all eyes turned to him.

"Do you, Roxas, hereby agree that since you used the pink crayon, you will be a girl when you get Namine's dress?"

"I—"

"Objection!" Axel shouted, standing up with a scrape of his chair. "I just thought of something! What about girls that wear pants and not dresses?"

"Girls are allowed to wear pants and skirts and dresses!" Kairi said, jumping up. A little girl called Yuffie stood up and modeled her shorts for the class. "You see? It's allowed so long as we don't wear boy stuff like ties."

"Yeah well…fine." Axel sat down and stared at his feet, grouching.

"Any other objections?" Xemnas asked. Demyx raised his hand and blushed. Xemnas pointed with his pencil and called out, "Lost boy!"

"What about if he has to go to the bathroom?" another wave of murmurs shifted through the class. This one stumped them.

"Shouldn't he use the girl bathroom?" Namine asked.

"Yeah, but what if the grown ups don't like it? My parents would never stand for it!" Wakka said.

"My mom takes me into the girl bathroom when we go places." Ienzo said quietly.

"Mine too!" Demyx said loudly. "But if I'm with my dad then we go into the boy's room."

"So then is it a big deal if he uses the boy's room?" Axel asked

"We should still decide!" Kairi said. "Since Roxas is a boy, he can use the boy one for now. But when he's a girl, he should use the girl's room instead."

"Wait! The girl's room is missing something!" Demyx said.

"What?" Namine asked.

"There's special toilets in the boy's room that girls don't have." Demyx said, trying to explain.

"Really?" Kairi asked.

"They are called urinals…" Aerith said, trying to clarify.

"Boys can stand up and use them, but girls can't." Ienzo said.

"Oh." Kairi said slowly. "Then Roxas _has_ to use the boy's room, right?" Boys and girls around the table nodded in agreement. Xemnas picked up his pencil for a final time.

"Alright then! It's settled! Do you, Roxas, hereby agree that since you used the pink crayon, you will be a girl tomorrow when you get Namine's dress?"

"Yes." Roxas said.

"And do you, Roxas, promise that you will follow the rules of the girls, except for the one about which bathroom to use?"

"Yes." Roxas repeated.

"And do you, Roxas, promise that you will never where boy clothes like ties ever again?"

"Yes already!" Roxas said impatiently.

"Then from tomorrow on, you will be a girl!" Xemnas beat his pencil on the table again. "Court journeyed!"

"What?" somebody asked.

"That means it's officially decided." Xemnas explained. "My dad watches lots of cop shows. That's what they say when stuff like this happens. I was the judge." At that, he sounded very proud.

Since all the hubbub had died down, Roxas made his way back to his seat. Other kids took turns presenting their pictures to the class, but nobody was as interesting as Roxas until Xemnas made his way up.

"This is my castle." He said, holding up a drawing of a castle.

"Do you really live in a castle?" Ienzo asked skeptically.

"Aren't castles for princesses only?" Kairi wondered aloud.

"No, and no. This is the castle I'm going to _build._" Xemnas explained. "Then I can carry out my evil plans from it. See? This tall tower over here is my room. I get the best view. I can see all my kingdom from it."

"What kind of evil plans?" Demyx asked.

"The super evil kind! The ones that have rocket ships in them! And sharks. They're my favorite animal."

"Yeah" Wakka said, blowing his hair out of his eyes. "And you can kidnap princess Roxas too." He got a couple of chuckles for that.

"Yes well, anyways, that's my picture." Xemnas said, and he ran to his seat.

"Very good Xemnas! That was wonderful." Aerith cheered, clapping. "Alright. If everyone will please put their artwork in their cubbies so they don't get lost?"

Roxas stood up and started walking around the table, drawing in hand. Axel jogged over and looked at his own doodling, saying, "I think yours looks better then mine." Roxas looked at Axel's drawing. It was mostly red scribbles with a couple of green stick figures in it.

"Yeah. Yours is nice though." He commented.

"Ah well. That's okay. I'm faster then you anyways." Axel said. "Hey, what's Xemnas drawing?"

Xemnas was still sitting at the end of the table, scribbling something with a crayon on a new sheet of paper.

"What's up Xemnas?" Axel said, looking over his shoulder. "Whatcha drawing?"

"Go away! I'm busy." Axel frowned.

"Hey, you're not supposed to color anymore! Ms. Aerith said you have to put it away!"

"This isn't that picture! This is something else!"

"Let me see!" Axel grabbed the paper from Xemnas and ran away. Roxas stared as Axel stopped by the plastic gate and inspected the drawing. Xemnas jumped out of his seat and ran over, pulling Axel's red hair.

"Give it back!"

"Hey stop!"

Roxas didn't know what to do. He looked around the room, then finally walked over to where the boys were fighting and grabbed the paper from Axel.

"Hey wait a minute! These are just scribbles!" Roxas said. That got Xemnas to stop.

"No they are not! I was writing my evil plans. See? It says so right there." He pointed to the top of the page.

"Nuh uh. These don't look anything like grown-up writing!"

Axel came up from behind Roxas, rubbing the back of his head. "Ow. Now let me see!" Together, the three boys stared intensely at Xemnas' drawing.

"Grah! I can't read it." Axel finally said in frustration, looking away and pouting.

"Exactly! But I can." Xemnas said. "And so that means, this is writing! Now give it." Xemnas lunged for the paper but Roxas sidestepped the attack.

"I still don't believe you!" Roxas said defiantly. "We need to find someone else who can read it."

Demyx, who had long ago put his drawing away (it was of the beach!), ran over to the shouting.

"Ienzo can read. He told me so. His daddy taught him how." He told Roxas. Roxas seemed very interested.

"Really? Hey Ienzo!" Roxas looked around for Demyx' friend.

"Yes?" Ienzo said, walking away from his backpack.

"Are these grown-up writings?" Roxas dangled the picture in front of Ienzo's face. Ienzo took a step back and inspected the drawing. Finally, he shook his head.

"No, these are just scribbles." At this, Xemnas snapped. He wouldn't take this any more!

"Give me that! They are grown-up writings if I say so! Besides, you're not allowed to read these! They're my evil plans!" he shouted. Ienzo shrugged.

"Alright. But that one squiggle almost looks like Kft if you hold it like this."

"Kft? What's kft?"

"I dunno. But that's what it spells." And with that, Ienzo walked away. Demyx looked nervously after him then decided his friend's feelings weren't hurt. He took a peak at Xemnas' drawing.

"I think they're very nice squiggles." He said, trying to be friendly.

"Yeah well, who cares what you think." Xemnas fumed. Then he stalked off to his cubby to hide his evil plans. Axel, Roxas, and Demyx watched him leave.

"Don't worry Demyx. Xemnas is just a sore loser." Roxas comforted. He gave the frazzled boy a hug.

"It's okay. He didn't mean to." Demyx said. Axel thought that was dumb. Of course Xemnas meant to. Why else would he say something mean?

"No it's not!" he argued. "We'll just have to get him back for it later."

"No you don't! Xemnas is just a little grouchy, that's all. Don't hurt him, please?"

"Mm, fine! But I wasn't gonna hurt him. I was just gonna teach him a lesson. He shouldn't lie about his squiggles!" Axel pouted, crossing his arms.

"Yeah…" Demyx said. Then his stomach gave a big growl. Roxas laughed, then Axel too. Demyx just blushed. "Sorry! I'm just kinda hungry, I guess." He said sheepishly.

"That's fine." Aerith said walking over. She was carrying a big plate. "It's snack time anyways. Before we can eat, everyone needs to line up just like we practiced." Nobody had noticed she had left, but everyone was eager to see what she had brought. All the kids shuffled into place as best as they could. Aerith waited patiently while Axel and Saix switched, and then counted out the numbers from one to fifteen down the row. As she said the last number, she smiled.

"Great! Let's go outside and eat. Follow me, but stay in line."

Aerith marched the kids like a line of ducklings through the class and then back out the door. They shuffled down the skinny hallway and turned left at the fountains. Then the class marched to where Axel and Roxas had raced earlier. Demyx was giggling in line as Axel told him the story about the race and the fruit-roll-up. Finally, Aerith led the class through a pair of double doors and into sunshine. The class had made it to the back of the school.

"Whoa!" Tidus said. Kairi jumped around near the front of the line. Even Xemnas was getting excited.


End file.
